The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Carolina violet, southern woolly violet

Cascades early blue violet, common periwinkle, early blue violet, hook-spur violet, hookedspur violet, large periwinkle, sand violet, western dog violet, wild dog violet

Habit Plants perennial, acaulescent, not stoloniferous, 5–15 cm; rhizome thick, fleshy. Plants perennial, caulescent, not stoloniferous, 1.8–30(–35) cm.
Stems

1–5, erect, ascending, or decumbent, sometimes later reclining to nearly prostrate, glabrous or puberulent, on caudex from subligneous rhizome.

Leaves

basal, 4–9, prostrate to ascending;

stipules linear-lanceolate, margins entire, apex acute;

petiole 3–10 cm, densely pubescent;

blade unlobed, reniform or ovate to elliptic, 1–8 × 1–5.5 cm, base cordate, margins serrate, ciliate, apex rounded to acute, mucronulate, surfaces densely pubescent.

basal and cauline;

basal: 1–4;

stipules linear to linear-lanceolate, margins entire or laciniate with gland-tipped projections, apex acute to acuminate;

petiole 0.5–13.5 cm, glabrous or puberulent;

blade usually ovate or ovate-deltate to ovate-orbiculate, sometimes ± reniform or oblong, 0.5–6.9 × 0.4–5 cm, base cordate, subcordate, truncate, or attenuate, usually decurrent on petiole, margins crenate to crenulate or entire, ciliate or eciliate, apex acute to obtuse, surfaces glabrous or sparsely to densely puberulent;

cauline similar to basal except: stipule margins lacerate to laciniate;

petiole 0.5–6.5 cm;

blade 0.6–5.5 × 0.4–4.7 cm.

Peduncles

4–10 cm, puberulent.

1.7–13.8 cm, glabrous or puberulent.

Flowers

sepals lanceolate to ovate, margins ciliate, auricles 1–2 mm;

petals light to dark blue-violet on both surfaces, lower 3 white basally and dark violet-veined, lateral 2 bearded, spur sometimes bearded, lowest 10–20 mm, spur usually white, gibbous, 2–3 mm;

style head beardless; cleistogamous flowers on ascending to erect peduncles.

sepals lanceolate, margins ciliate or eciliate, auricles not enlarged in fruit, 0.5–2 mm;

petals light- to deep- to lavender-violet on both surfaces, rarely white, lower 3 usually white basally, dark violet-veined, lateral 2 (and sometimes upper 2) bearded, lowest 7–17(–23) mm, spur purple to violet or white, elongated, 5–7 mm, tip straight or pointed, curved up or lateral;

style head sparsely to densely bearded, sometimes beardless; cleistogamous flowers axillary.

Capsules

ellipsoid, 6–10 mm, glabrous.

short-ovoid, 6–11 mm, glabrous.

Seeds

beige, mottled to bronze, or dark brown, 1.5–2 mm.

dark brown to olive-black, 1.5–2 mm.

2n

= 54.

Viola villosa

Viola adunca

Phenology Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat Sandy, pine-oak and pine-oak-hickory woods and disturbed ground
Elevation 10–300 m (0–1000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; OK; SC; TX
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; AZ; CA; CO; IA; ID; MA; ME; MI; MN; MT; ND; NE; NH; NM; NV; NY; OR; SD; UT; VT; WA; WI; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NS; NT; NU; ON; QC; SK; YT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Much of the foliage of Viola villosa remains green throughout the winter (V. B. Baird 1942).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

Viola adunca is polymorphic with over 50 named taxa. G. D. McPherson and J. G. Packer (1974) reported that diploid, triploid, and tetraploid races of V. adunca occur in Canada and northwestern United States. They found that diploid and tetraploid chromosome races can be distinguished morphologically based on style beards and on the size of guard cells and pollen grains and recommended taxonomic recognition of both races. In diploid races, the style projections are more or less cylindrical and about one-sixth the width of the style; in tetraploid races they are short-conical or globular, and about one-tenth or less than the width of the style beard.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Plants (4–)4.5–30(–35) cm; basal blades 1.3–6.9 × 1.2–5 cm; peduncles 3–13.8 cm; 0–3600 m; widespread in North America.
var. adunca
1. Plants 1.8–4.5(–6.5) cm; basal blades 0.5–1.7 × 0.4–1.4 cm; peduncles 1.7–5 cm; 2500–3800 m; restricted to Rocky Mountains (Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, British Columbia).
var. bellidifolia
Source FNA vol. 6, p. 163. FNA vol. 6, p. 119.
Parent taxa Violaceae > Viola Violaceae > Viola
Sibling taxa
V. adunca, V. affinis, V. arvensis, V. bakeri, V. beckwithii, V. bicolor, V. biflora, V. blanda, V. brittoniana, V. canadensis, V. canina, V. charlestonensis, V. clauseniana, V. cucullata, V. cuneata, V. douglasii, V. egglestonii, V. epipsila, V. flettii, V. frank-smithii, V. glabella, V. guadalupensis, V. hallii, V. hastata, V. hirsutula, V. howellii, V. japonica, V. labradorica, V. lanceolata, V. langsdorffii, V. lithion, V. lobata, V. macloskeyi, V. missouriensis, V. nephrophylla, V. novae-angliae, V. nuttallii, V. ocellata, V. odorata, V. orbiculata, V. palmata, V. palustris, V. pedata, V. pedatifida, V. pedunculata, V. pinetorum, V. praemorsa, V. primulifolia, V. prionantha, V. pubescens, V. purpurea, V. quercetorum, V. renifolia, V. riviniana, V. rostrata, V. rotundifolia, V. sagittata, V. selkirkii, V. sempervirens, V. septemloba, V. sheltonii, V. sororia, V. striata, V. subsinuata, V. tomentosa, V. tricolor, V. trinervata, V. tripartita, V. umbraticola, V. utahensis, V. vallicola, V. walteri
V. affinis, V. arvensis, V. bakeri, V. beckwithii, V. bicolor, V. biflora, V. blanda, V. brittoniana, V. canadensis, V. canina, V. charlestonensis, V. clauseniana, V. cucullata, V. cuneata, V. douglasii, V. egglestonii, V. epipsila, V. flettii, V. frank-smithii, V. glabella, V. guadalupensis, V. hallii, V. hastata, V. hirsutula, V. howellii, V. japonica, V. labradorica, V. lanceolata, V. langsdorffii, V. lithion, V. lobata, V. macloskeyi, V. missouriensis, V. nephrophylla, V. novae-angliae, V. nuttallii, V. ocellata, V. odorata, V. orbiculata, V. palmata, V. palustris, V. pedata, V. pedatifida, V. pedunculata, V. pinetorum, V. praemorsa, V. primulifolia, V. prionantha, V. pubescens, V. purpurea, V. quercetorum, V. renifolia, V. riviniana, V. rostrata, V. rotundifolia, V. sagittata, V. selkirkii, V. sempervirens, V. septemloba, V. sheltonii, V. sororia, V. striata, V. subsinuata, V. tomentosa, V. tricolor, V. trinervata, V. tripartita, V. umbraticola, V. utahensis, V. vallicola, V. villosa, V. walteri
Subordinate taxa
V. adunca var. adunca, V. adunca var. bellidifolia
Synonyms V. alabamensis Lophion aduncum, V. canina var. adunca
Name authority Walter: Fl. Carol., 219. (1788) Smith: in A. Rees, Cycl. 37: Viola no. 63
Web links